Toyota’s First Etios Motor Racing Exhibition Race in Chennai this Weekend

Aug. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- In line with its global philosophy and the company’s latest marketing campaign, Waku Doki, which means excitement, joy and fun, Toyota Kirloskar Motor is taking the excitement of the Etios Motor Racing (EMR) to the next level with its first Exhibition Race at the Chennai race track on the 4th and 5th of August, 2012. This event will mark the debut of 25 promising racers who have been chosen after rigorous selection rounds from more than 3000 aspiring candidates who had registered. The EMR Exhibition Race promises to be a fun-filled Toyota motorsport event, and apart from the final 25 drivers battling it out for the first time on the race track, spectators will be able to witness the racing prowess of local and international racers.

A host of activities have also been planned to keep the spectators engaged, and in order to reach out to motorsport enthusiasts across the country, Toyota has tied-up with Neo Sports for the year 2012.  All the EMR action for this weekend will be aired on Neo Sports on Sunday, August 5th between 1500 to 1800 hrs.

International Guest Drivers:
Iida Akira
Currently, the Toyota Gazoo racing Director and Driver as well as Super GT Class Lexus Team Kraft Director and judge of D1 Grand Prix, Iida Akira is also the development driver for Lexus LFA. On the 31st of August 2011, Nürburgring, he recorded the quickest time in the LEXUS LFA at north course among mass production cars.

Ben Collins
Ben Collins (formerly The Stig) was the benchmark of speed against which all other drivers set themselves; he has raced successfully in almost every class imaginable, from Formula 3 and Le Mans 24 Hour competition to American Stock Car Racing. Ben has put every known supercar to the test. Ben also set up and now runs Collins Autosport who have supplied precision drivers for Hollywood, with Ben having just completed filming for Skyfall, the latest Bond movie due out in October.  You can also


spot him in the final episode of Nolan’s Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises and not just behind the wheel.

Activities:
-   Grand Opening Ceremony
-   Toyota Car Line-up
-   Celebrity Races
-   Special Guests
-   SUV Zone
-   Karting Zone
-   Children’s Learning Area
-   Face Painting/ Tattoos
-   Design Your Car
-   EMR Merchandise

All information concerning EMR can be found at http://www.toyotaetiosmotorracing.in/

About Etios Motor Racing
Continuing the Company’s global legacy of motorsports, the EMR tourney will be supported by one of the most accomplished and acclaimed engineering companies in motorsport history – TRD (Toyota Racing Development), the corporate brand from the Toyota affiliate, Toyota Technocraft Co. Ltd. The EMR Series that is slated to be held in the second half of 2013 will be based on a single-make racing championship platform. The cars will be FIA qualified with racing parts supplied by TRD, and their technical expertise will be utilized throughout the series.

Toyota will also partner and work closely with Indian motorsport experts, Red Rooster Racing (International) Pvt., Ltd. based in Bangalore, with Leelakrishnan former racing and rallying champion at the helm.  

The Official Partners for EMR in 2012 are MRF – tyre manufacturer, DENSO – a Toyota affiliate that manufactures auto parts, Savita – sole distributor of Idemitsu Oil products in India, BMC – producers of air filters and MapmyIndia– providers of GPA navigation and online maps.  

The Etios racing platform will help talented young racers develop their skills, and further train them to gain a competitive edge for their future in motorsports. They will be mentored by experts in the field, and will be given an opportunity to compete amongst the best in the country. This series will not only highlight the technological prowess of the manufacturer, but also the endurance levels of the Etios and the ‘fun to drive’ aspect of the vehicle.

Driver Selection Process
Camp 1
The eligible 800 candidates were invited to compete in the first round of auditions in four cities – Pune, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. The arduous task of selecting 70 young drivers from around 900 was given to experts in the field of racing and rallying – Leelakrishnan, Farad Bhathena, Nawaz Sandhu, Karandeep Sandhu, Amittrajit Ghosh and Karna Kadur.
Camp 2
The top 70 competitors were put through a more rigorous second round of selections where they were individually trained and judged by five top evaluators/ instructors with a motorsport background – Leelakrishnan, Ram Narayan, Rahul Kantharaj, Karna Kadur and Anish Rathnam. Participants were judged on their go-kart driving skills with importance given to their lap times and consistency in lap times in Camps 1 and 2.
Camp 3
40 drivers were selected from Camp 2 who then went on to attend Camp 3 for the final selection and training with the Etios Motor Racing cars. The participants were driving the EMR cars for the first time, hence were put through extensive training sessions over two days at the Madras race track (MMSC), and mentored by expert motorsport drivers. The final 25 drivers (+10 reserves) were selected based on the consistency in lap timings and fastest lap timings set by the competitor on the race track.

Overview of TKM:
Company name   Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited
Managing Director   Hiroshi Nakagawa
Equity participation   TMC: 89%, Kirloskar group: 11%
Number of employees   Approx. 6,000 +
Land area   Aprox. 432 acres (approx.1,700,000 m2)
Building area   74,000 m2